?Chapter 621:


    “Regal Grove,” he told the driver, his tone brooking no argument.


    Soon, the car slipped away from the Royal Club and blended into the city’s steady flow of headlights.


    Two familiar faces didn’t join them tonight. With Aron taking Jeff back to the Evans estate and Hugh sidelined by a fever, the back seat held only Cole and Elliana—a space that felt too quiet and strangely lonely.


    From up front, Myles wordlessly raised the privacy partition. He understood the situation well enough. Divorce or not, Cole was clearly determined to win Elliana back, and Myles respected the need for privacy.


    Barely a block away, Elliana let her mask of cool indifference drop into ce. She angled her body toward the window, refusing to even nce Cole’s way.


    The rebuff didn’t rattle Cole at all. He simply watched her in silence, memorizing the curve of her cheek, aching for thefort of her presence. A week had passed since the divorce, but the emptiness had stretched longer than he cared to admit. With each day apart, his longing only deepened. Every moment before, he’d taken herughter and gentle words for granted. Now, the quiet inside the car rang hollow, leaving him with nothing but echoes of everything he’d lost.


    Her perfume drifted between them, delicate and familiar, making the ache inside him almost unbearable. Being so close, yet unable to hold her, to kiss her, to hear her whisper those sweet nothings to him, was its own quiet torture.


    Impulse got the better of him. He pulled her into his embrace and pressed a tender kiss to her hair, craving the closeness he’d missed. The feel of her wig beneath his lips was a far cry from her long, silky hair, but even so, that small contact gave him a fleeting sense of peace.


    Forgiveness was nowhere on Elliana’s agenda. She twisted out of his arms, ring.


    “What’s gotten into you? We’re divorced, Cole. Let me go!”


    His grip only tightened.


    “No,” he whispered, raw emotion thickening his voice. “I won’t. You have no idea how empty my world is without you.”


    A scoff escaped her.


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    “Don’t act like you care now. Where was all this love when you tossed me aside? You made me feel worthless. I won’t ever forgive you.”


    Her resistance only fueled his desperation. Leaning down, he brushed a gentle kiss to her forehead.


    “Please, Elliana… I only wanted a divorce to protect you and keep you out of harm’s way if I have a rpse… I didn’t think it through, and now I regret it.”


    That earned him another scowl.


    “So you’re suddenly not worried you might harm me when you have an episode?”


    Cole fixed his gaze on her, his eyes brimming with unwavering devotion.


    “I am still worried. More than anything else,” he replied in a quiet voice. “I am scared that I will rpse before you find a cure, but…”


    His words faded away as he found himself unable to continue. He just couldn’t stay away from her. The mere idea of her being with someone else filled him with a torment he could not endure. Even catching sight of herughing alongside Quentin just the other day hade dangerously close to pushing him over the edge.


    A heavy silence fell between them as Cole struggled for words.


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